Auto accessories from your youth

Today, personalization of vehicles is popular — resulting in a massive market for accessories (a 30-plus-billion-dollar business) — but giving custom touches to cars and trucks is nothing new. Adding accessories has been a practice about as long as there have been cars.

Thinking back to my childhood, in the 1950s and 1960s, there are certain accessories that stand out. This blog was sparked when I saw a car at the recent Autorama that was fitted with curb feelers — long, flexible wires or springs attached to a car’s lower body, near the wheel. These warned when the vehicle came in close contact with a curb. I can still recall the sound they made.

My personal favorite (from a nostalgic-not-safety sense) is a steering wheel spinner knob (also called a suicide knob, third hand, Brody/Brodie knob or necker knob). Measuring on either side of 3 inches, this rotating knob was attached to the steering wheel to facilitate “cool” one-hand driving. Some were solid colors, some had patterns, but it was common for the knobs to have a picture under clear plastic. Pin-up girls and advertising were favorite subjects.

Fuzzy dice hanging from the rearview mirror have become a hot-rod culture signature.

Of course, there were the fuzzy dice — a pair of roughly 3-to-4-inch fuzzy-cloth-covered dice that swung from the rearview mirror. Fuzzy mirrors and steering wheel covers were available to complete the effect.

A cool complement to a floor shift was an eight-ball shift knob. Nice exterior touches came with lake/side pipes and fender shirts.